Overclocked or Top of the Line

[webfab]

Basicly im thinking about building a new PC and im confused pretty bad since the last PC i builded was P4 2.4ghz.

I want a PC with very good core performance since im gona use this PC 4 long time and was jsut wondering is it worth buying the i7-3.33ghz 1000$ processor or just buy one of those 500$ one like i7-870 or i7-950 and overclock them to lets say 3.3 ghz, and would those cores perform close to the top of the line one ????

or maybe should i buy i5-750 2.66ghz and maybe overclock that to 3ghz if its possible. also maybe some AMD core??

 

[cbn]

What are you trying to do with your computer?

 

[MegaVovaN]

My opinion is build two mid-range computers.

Like, instead of building a $2000 PC and using it 4 years, build a $1000 PC now, and another $1000 PC in 2 years.

Average performance will be higher than buying bleeding edge and sticking with it.

 

[webfab]

Im probably gona hold on to it for like 2-3 years but i need it 4
Gaming, Video Encoding, alot of Graphic design Programs like Photoshop illustrator, AutoCad etc Im geting Radeon 5970 so i also have to make sure the processor dont bottleneck.

Somwere i read that i7-920 is best choice due to price and high overclock potential is that right ?

 

[Zensal]

Gaming, Video Encoding, alot of Graphic design Programs like Photoshop illustrator, AutoCad etc Im geting Radeon 5970 so i also have to make sure the processor dont bottleneck.

Somwere i read that i7-920 is best choice due to price and high overclock potential is that right ?

Please use full sentences and correct grammar. This is a message board, not a "txt msg".

This strictly depends on your budget. If you can afford a higher clocked processor, then go for it. Nothing is guaranteed in overclocking. That being said, with a aftermarket cooler, folks have been reaching 3.8GHz on i5-750s with no problems and i7-920s seem to be getting closer to 4.0GHz.

It would help greatly if you could provide a budget.

 

[cbn]

Im probably gona hold on to it for like 2-3 years but i need it 4
Gaming, Video Encoding, alot of Graphic design Programs like Photoshop illustrator, AutoCad etc Im geting Radeon 5970 so i also have to make sure the processor dont bottleneck.

Somwere i read that i7-920 is best choice due to price and high overclock potential is that right ?

Are you using this for business? Are billing hours in any way being being calculated against the cost of ownership?

 

[webfab]

Are you using this for business? Are billing hours in any way being being calculated against the cost of ownership?

No this computer is purely for private use mostly school work,some freelance work and Gaming on the side of that ofcourse.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

Definitely overclock. You can get $1000 performance for a third of the price with just a little work.

 

[cbn]

No this computer is purely for private use mostly school work,some freelance work and Gaming on the side of that ofcourse.

1. Buy Core i5 750 /P55 motherboard. (or maybe i7-860 if someone else thinks this is a good idea)

2. Purchase retail copy of Windows 7. (so it can be transferred later on)

3. Then 2 or more years later buy something with SATA III/USB 3.

 

[cbn]

Im geting Radeon 5970

Make sure you get a good PSU for this card (especially if you plan on overclocking it).

 

[zuffy]

Intel will always charge a high premium for their top of the line CPU. Definitely will not be your most bang for the buck CPU. You will be better off buying the i7-920 and OC it.

And if anyone is wondering why I owe an i7-975, it's because I didn't have to pay for it.

 

[boomhower]

Another vote for the 920. Granted overclocks vary but I would be shocked if it couldn't hit 3.3.

 

[BD231]

The fact remains, computer parts depreciate faster than the car in your driveway.

Never spend 1k on a cpu, its blasphemy.

 

[myocardia]

xx

 

[SanDiegoPC]

The fact remains, computer parts depreciate faster than the car in your driveway.

Never spend 1k on a cpu, its blasphemy.

This is the correct answer. If the OP had done this on his last build, his current PC would be a Core2Duo, instead of a now ancient P4.

Agree 100 percent on both counts.

 

[Borealis7]

XBitLabs have recently published just the article for you to read:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5870-cpu-scaling.html

also check out:

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=869

all your answers are in these articles.

 

[webfab]

Thank you guys very much. Youre answears were very helpfull. In the end im goingto infact settle for i7-920 and OC it seems much cheaper and i agree with what someon said its blasphemy to but 1000$ CPU lol.

 

[Markfw]

From that xbits article:
"I also want to say a few words about the platform with the dual-core CPU as compared with the quad-core CPU. Winding up this test session I carried out an interesting experiment. I connected two system cases with a Radeon HD 5870, one with an Intel Core 2 Duo at 4.1GHz and another with an Intel Core i7 at 4.1GHz, simultaneously to the same monitor. Then I selected the most CPU-indifferent resolution of 1920x1200 with FSAA and AF and launched a few games. I switched between the two systems by choosing the input on the monitor (analog/DVI-I) and used two mice and two keyboards.

Using this setup, I could quickly switch from the system with a dual-core CPU to the system with a quad-core CPU and feel the difference between them in the same parts of five games. Excepting S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, I easily felt the difference such games as Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., Resident Evil 5, Call of Duty 5: World at War and Crysis. The gameplay was much smoother on the quad-core CPU, without occasional jerks as on the Core 2 Duo. Game levels were loaded faster, too. So, the numbers don’t always provide the full picture, yet I hope that this test session will help you decide what CPU you need for one or two Radeon HD 5870 cards."

Again, quad-core for gaming today is what you need !!!!

 

[betasub]

xbits experienced "game levels were loaded faster" despite being limited to mechanical storage (no SSD). Hmm.

 

[aigomorla]

well shit if u can afford to buy a Xe chip without looking back.

Since ur building 2 machines, build the cheap one now, wait for gulftown on the better machine.

1. Buy Core i5 750 /P55 motherboard. (or maybe i7-860 if someone else thinks this is a good idea)

2. Purchase retail copy of Windows 7. (so it can be transferred later on)

3. Then 2 or more years later buy something with SATA III/USB 3.

No i disagree, he should have the most threads possible because of this.

Im probably gona hold on to it for like 2-3 years but i need it 4
Gaming, Video Encoding, alot of Graphic design Programs like Photoshop illustrator, AutoCad etc Im geting Radeon 5970 so i also have to make sure the processor dont bottleneck.

Somwere i read that i7-920 is best choice due to price and high overclock potential is that right ?

2 machines? Build a cheap one to play with / game, and a dedicated machine to render / crunch.

How about a dual i7 machine for your rendering (should last 4 yrs), and an i5 for gaming? (2 yrs easy).

 

[Markfw]

xbits experienced "game levels were loaded faster" despite being limited to mechanical storage (no SSD). Hmm.

If the load is also doing a bunch of processing, this could make perfect sense. But your point is well taken. I see this when my computer loads games or levels, the IO light is not solid, so it must be doing processing in between.

 

[ShawnD1]

xbits experienced "game levels were loaded faster" despite being limited to mechanical storage (no SSD). Hmm.

Load times in UT and Doom3 based games are CPU bottlenecked.

 

[Cattykit]

Im probably gona hold on to it for like 2-3 years but i need it 4
Gaming, Video Encoding, alot of Graphic design Programs like Photoshop illustrator, AutoCad etc Im geting Radeon 5970 so i also have to make sure the processor dont bottleneck.

Somwere i read that i7-920 is best choice due to price and high overclock potential is that right ?

Seems like your need matches mine and here's what I came down to:

1. Buy either i7 920 or 860 and overclock it. You have more chance of doing 4ghz with 920 than 860. With 860, you can do 3.7ghz unless you're so damn unlucky. I chose 860 because of cheaper motherboard and I care about power consumption.

2. If your gpu is solely for gaming, go for ATI cards. However, since you're going to be using GPU for graphic works as well, it won't be a easy decision. You see, CUDA is finally taking off as upcoming CS5 are going to use it, not to mention other vendors.
5970 is such a great gaming card but for graphic works, it won't do anything. In fact, shitty gaming card like nvidia GT 220 will give you so much benefit over 5970 just because of CUDA.

3. If you don't mind spending $1000 for a CPU, wait for upcoming 32nm 6 core i7. Based on what you've said, I think it's the CPU you want.